NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20080010884: Generation Y Perspectives

Generation Y Perspectives

Meet Garret, Kristen, Aaron and Nick

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Our
friends
think that
we are
rocket
scientists
and

astronauts

Because we work here

But truthfully, we tend to work
just as much here.

Last week , we interacted with
people from here ...

... friends , family, classmates,
colleagues, even strangers .

They all wanted to know more

TM

about what we do at NASA .

So we got to thinking...

Why aren’t they connected to NASA?

Why isn't a whole generation
connecting to NASA?

We are part of Generation Y.

This presentation is our

perspective.

(But keep in mind that our generation will be
asked to pay the majority of the tax bill for the
vision for space exploration)

That’s $ 1 24B through the first lunar

landing (FY06-FY18).

NASA has a brand and a message.

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We don't want to talk about that.

We want to talk about why our
generation isn’t connecting to it.

Because we dTGn l connecting to it...

...young

people, both

inside and
outside of

NASA.

And we think they SHOULD

connect to it.

Because what NASA
does is important.

. . .to everyone.

The world is connected today in ways
that are shattering traditional

communications concepts.

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And NASA is in a position to
lead the world in exploring
new frontiers.

Engaging people in this exploration

is not just an opportunity.

It is a responsibility .

01 Connected Generation

The traditional concept of

top-down, one-way

communications strategy

is dead.

(It is NOT dying. It is dead.)

Generation Y is a completely new generation.

Roughly speaking,
Generation Y is defined as -

< Birth Date >

< Current Age >

200

8

There are over 70 million people in the
U.S. belonging to our generation

And just like the Baby Boomers, we are a
large group of people that is IMPACTING
society

Births (in thousands)

4500

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

Baby Gen X Gen Y
• Boomers T T

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Birth Year

Generation Y is currently 25% of the workforce

and is projected to be 47% of the
workforce by 2014. I

Is NASA ready?

But what defines Generation Y?

Likes mentors

Global

Instant information Demands instant gratification

empowered

Wired

Expecting (NOW! Not 5
minutes from now)

Attracted to Large Social
Movements

multi-tasking

Quickly bored

Mobile Interdependent

Impatient if delayed... but highly adaptable.

And there are a lot of things that
made us the way we are.

We were the first generation to grow up
with cable in our homes

...Studies say this leads to

shorter attention spans

...And chronic boredom.

We are used to DIVERSITY

...after all, we grew up in diverse environments.

We grew up with

TALK SHOWS

And REALITY TV.

LL'JON STEWART

RACE

For our generation, TV is not passive
entertainment

it is an interactive experience

And our lives and outlooks have been
shaped by this.

“Anyone can be a star ...”

“Everyone deserves to have their
say. ”

“Getting heard and having a say are
not only easy, they seem natural. ”

Wait! You just described my generation.

Maybe there are some similarities. But there
are very important differences.

Such as different formative experiences.

Baby Boomers were shaped by:

Vietnam

The “Big Three” TV networks

The Cold War

The Kennedy and King Assassinations

Handicapped Rights

The Right to Privacy

And,

Civil Rights

The Feminist Movement

Rock Music

Gay Rights

Generation Y has been shaped by:

Columbia The 2000 Election Crisis

Accident

Columbine

9-11

Internet

The Iraq War

Reality TV

Terrorism

Cell Phones Starbucks

Cable

Gaming

And those life experiences made us:

Lack trust in corporations and government

Focus on personal success
Have a short-term career perspective

Gets easily bored
Extremely independent
See no clear boundary between work and life

Empowered and optimistic
Sacrifice economic rewards for work-life balance

Expect to work anytime, anyplace
Connect with people in new and distinctive ways

Comfortable with globalization

02 Perspectives

As a whole, people of
Generation Y are not
interested in space

exploration.

This is a FACT.

a majority of Gen Y between 18 and 24
Are Hot awar© or not ©ngaQGd in NASA’s mission

Support is higher among Asian-Americans.

Forty percent oppose NASA’s mission

Opposition among Gen Y Hispanics is higher

39% believe that nothing worthwhile has come
out of NASA

And maybe that’s because
NASA is not engaging
Generation Y

# of employees

For example, here’s the profile at NASA Johnson
Space Center for the workforce ages 45-64...

# of employees

... compare that with the profile of the younger
workforce ages <34.

If our generation is asked to pay the majority
of the tax bill for the vision for space
exploration, we need to be engaged in NASA’s
mission.

03 Rules of Engagement

So how do you reach an
entire generation
with a brand and message?

First, better understand the
audience

Then focus on getting us

interested again

f _

Our generation is not interested
because:

We don’t see the point.

We don’t understand the facts.
We can’t participate.

Instead of telling us what you want us to hear ...

Facilitate a discussion with Gen Y and
allow us to participate in the NASA mission

Share a compelling story

Touch our lives in
ways familiar to us.

Utilize “social media”

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mountain on the west side of Project field the Oregon IS Lunar
Lavatube Base project.

Universa Vanalten: hahahaha
Ariel Miranda: lol

Pmg Hagstaff. We would like to start doing some
role-playing using parts or all of the equipment we have there.
Quantum Clipper: where did that come from??

Universa Vanalten o that’s terrific Pmg :-))

Rocket Sellers: are we allowed to play here?

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timely

Innovation

Champions

The new breed of
managers and their
radical cultures of
creativity

Reclaim an
image as a
leader of
innovation .

What would an innovative, collaborative,
participatory NASA look like to us?

Here’s a few possible future headlines.

“Explorers Hired: NASA's recruiting advantage”

“What My Teenager Taught NASA About Marketing”

“NASA uses social media to improve public image
and reach target audiences”

“Open innovation leads to budget savings and
improved reliability of Constellation spacecraft”

“2 million Digg votes for latest NASA press release”

“NASA flattens organization structure and

improves innovation”

“NASA openness spins off into the first
private spacecraft to land on the moon”

NASA employs the smartest engineers in the world to
solve its toughest problems using collaborative
innovation

Astronaut twitters from Space during EVA

“NASA enjoys increases visibility,
credibility, and audience
exposure”

“NASA uses persona based approach to tell its story

“NASA switches back to Macs”

“Employees awarded with new
incentives to innovate at NASA”

“Students from elementary school in
Nebraska control Mars Rover from
classroom”

What does your local Gen-Y’er
think about NASA’s future?

When we asked a local Gen-Y’er what she
thought about this image:

she commented:

“Hey, that’d make a great T-shirt !”

We couldn’t agree more!

There are a number of things
that NASA is doing that are on

the right track!

CmLAB

facebook

NASA

Crescent: As MESSENGER neared
on Jan 14, 2008, the spacecraft took
image of the planet’s full c..

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04 The Challenge

By no means is this
“the answer”

...after all, who are we
anyway?

Just some Gen Y-er’s
who got hooked by the
NASA bug and want to
help.

But we’ve done a lot in 4 months.

Co-op Alumni Mentoring

Spoke to several management teams about Gen Y (10+)
Created the Flat NASA Experiment Blog
Created the leadership forum

Inspired public regarding NASA careers using Facebook
Established connections at Rice University
Developed this presentation
Outreach. Lots of outreach

Developed Co-op Advanced Planning Team (CAPT)
Collaborated with Wired Magazine on Article Concept
Connected NASA to Twitter

Facilitated the JSC PAO New Media Project with CAPT
Led the planning of Yuri’s Night Houston 08

With only 4
people.

There isn’t one ultimate
communications strategy to
solve NASA’s problems
once and for all.

...it’d be a lot easier if there was.

So the challenge is to take
this and create new ideas.

Because the NASA we want to work for and connect to is like us

Collaborative

Cv€(ltiv€ Timely

Open

Bold Innovative

Participatory

Connected

Exciting

Purposeful

But we - our generation
want to be a part of the
solution.

Because space exploration is the future.

And it is OUR future.

Everyone’s future.

References

■ Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis. American Perception of Space Exploration:
A Cultural Analysis for NASA. Philadelphia, PA: Center for Cultural Studies &
Analysis, 2004.

■ Hopkins, Robert. Strategic Communications Framework: Implementation Plan.
Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2007.

■ Space Foundation. Space Awareness Initiative. America's Spacepoll: An Annual
Research and Analysis Project. Colorado Springs, CO: Space Foundation, 2000.

■ Dittmar, Mary Lynne. Engaging the18-25 Generation: Educational Outreach,
Interactive Technologies, and Space. Dittmar Associates Inc. Houston, TX

■ Smith, Tom. Trends in National Spending Priorities, 1973-2006. General Social
Survey. National Opinion Research Center. University of Chicago

■ NAS Insights. Generation Y: The Millennials. NASA, 2006.

■ Kohut, Andrew. How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics, A Portrait
of “Generation Next”. The Pew Research Center, 2007

■ Rasmus, Daniel W. The Next-Generation Workforce and Project Management.
Academy Sharing Knowledge (ASK) Magazine, Fall 2007.

■ NAS Recruitment Communications. Generation Y. The Millenials

www.nasrecruitment.com/TalentTips/NASinsiqhts/GenerationY.pdf , 2006

■ Zelon, Barbara. Conversation Constellation Strategies. Houston, TX: National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2007.

■ Live Birth Data collected from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html.